Psychology Commons^™

Essential Oils Peppermint And Rosemary Exposed To The Olfactory Sense And The Effects On Cognition And Perceived Mood, Tara A. Ricciardelli

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Recent research suggests that essential oils of a certain quality can enhance memory consolidation and cognitive performance. The present study examined whether the essential oils rosemary and peppermint were powerful enough to significantly improve short-term memory in recall and recognition tasks. Participants were in a room with a device that diffused a scent or water (no scent) for ten minutes prior to their entry. The participants viewed word lists and were later tested for accuracy in terms of recall and recognition. Results from a one-way analyses of variance demonstrated that peppermint and rosemary did not significantly improve short-term memory or …